Field of the Invention
The present invention is a device and accompanying system with embedded functionality allowing a user to monitor and control energy consumption, including hardware installed in addition to an existing circuit breaker panel. A preferred embodiment comprises a retrofitting apparatus that can be connected to an existing circuit breaker panel. The apparatus can be detachably connected to the panel by hooks, screws, or other connecting means. Alternatively, the apparatus can be mounted onto a wall or floor, or installed into a wall, next to an existing circuit breaker panel. Some or all fuses in the circuit breaker panel may be electrically connected in a circuit to keep the fuses of the existing circuit breaker panel connected to downstream electrical outlets and/or loads. The existing fuses may be connected to nodes in the claimed apparatus to create a closed loop with the outlets and/or loads. The nodes may comprise a processor(s) or controller(s) or the nodes may be connected to a processor(s) or controller(s) to manage energy consumption that is being measured from energy consumed by the downstream outlets and/or loads, from the overall power consumption, or by some other means.
The system will allow remote control of the processor(s), controller(s), and/or node(s) so that the outlet(s) and/or load(s) connected to that node(s) can be remotely turned on or off, or otherwise regulated. The nodes or processor(s) may communicate with a remote device, including but not limited to a phone, computer, laptop, tablet, or other communication orcomputing device, such as in one embodiment through the internet, and in another embodiment through cell phone signals, Bluetooth®, or Wi-Fi, to send information regarding energy consumption and providing the user with the option to turn on or off the outlet(s) and/or load(s) or otherwise control the power consumption at the downstream outlet(s) and/or load(s), at the circuit breaker(s), or at the circuit breaker panel(s).
Description of the Related Art
Prior to the invention disclosed herein, energy monitoring and control systems could generally be categorized into one of three broad groups.
In the first group, energy management systems were embedded into circuit breaker panels or certain parts of such panels. These systems allowed for monitoring and control of energy consumption on each circuit. However, to install such a system, a user had to undergo a full panel replacement or deep panel retrofit. Typically, a user had to purchase (or hire someone to purchase) a new circuit breaker panel that had built-in energy management functions. Such a user would have to replace (or hire someone to replace) the entire existing circuit breaker panel or larger parts of such panel with the purchased system. This prior art and the involved replacement costs, including hardware and services such as installation and electrical work, were prohibitively costly; one replacement typically required at least two or more full days of work to professionally install the management system.
In the second group, energy monitoring systems were installed inside a circuit breaker panel. Typically, these systems included a controlling unit and a plurality of current transformers (CTs) or some variation of such technology also known as non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM). These systems provided users with the ability to monitor energy consumption either on a main feed level or on a circuit-by-circuit level. Installation of such monitoring systems did not require a circuit breaker panel replacement, such as those in the first group described above, because they were installed inside an existing circuit breaker panel. However, these systems only allowed for monitoring of energy consumption by each circuit or groups of circuits. Such systems lacked the control functionality of the invention taught herein due to the limitations of the preexisting technology. In particular, these limitations refer to CTs (responsible for energy monitoring) that measure electrical current without physical connection to conductors (wires).
In the third group, energy monitoring and controlling systems were designed to manage energy consumption on a device level. This group of systems includes a plurality of devices that were typically installed in close proximity to the measured electric load (relatively far from the circuit breaker panel). Such devices were usually connected to an electric outlet and, thus, measured and controlled electric consumption of a device or group of devices connected to that particular socket. Such systems did not fulfill the purpose of managing energy consumption in a given premises and could only provide limited information per electric load. This inherent and meaningful limitation made it impossible for a user to obtain a full and comprehensive depiction of energy consumption since many electric loads do not use traditional electric sockets (for example, hardwired lighting and HVAC systems).